As you know by now, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal yesterday. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is mobilizing its resources to assist in the relief effort.
Reports from Catholic Relief Services (CRS) emergency personnel in Kathmandu tell of cold rain making life miserable for the tens of thousands who have been living outside in fear of continuing aftershocks since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal Saturday.
“The situation is getting critical with the rain and cold winds,” said Kushal Neogy, a member of the CRS India staff who was in Nepal during the earthquake and has stayed to help with relief efforts. “It slows down the rescue and relief operation and makes life difficult for those living on the street or in open fields.”
CRS will bring help to many of those people soon as thousands of tarpaulins and other shelter materials are on their way overland from neighboring India where they were pre-positioned because the area is subject to earthquakes and severe flooding. Thousands more tarpaulins are being flown from a distribution center in Dubai.
Neogy and about 20 more CRS emergency specialists are now in Nepal or on the way. They are working with Caritas Nepal, alongside staff from Caritas agencies around the world, including the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Germany, Austria, and others. CRS has an immediate goal of helping 10,000 families with emergency shelter, blankets, water treatment kits, and hygiene kits. CRS will help many more people as it assesses the needs and coordinates with other aid agencies.
“The main challenge at this point is overstress of a small airport,” said Elizabeth Tromans of CRS’ Humanitarian Response Team “With only one airport serving the area and it being a very small airport, we’re already seeing a backlog. For example, our first relief supplies were supposed to land this morning and were diverted, so we are hoping they come tomorrow.”
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